Enhanced timed text in video streaming

ABSTRACT

Timed text that is provided in a television broadcast or media stream can be enhanced to provide an improved user experience. A scrollable text window can be provided in a media player application, for example, that can allow the user to quickly “catchup” from a missed moment. The timed text may be enhanced to allow links to dictionaries, encyclopedias, online sources, thesauruses, translating services, and/or the like. Further implementations could use automated tools to automatically generate program summaries for watched or unwatched content.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 62/098,675 filed on Dec. 31, 2014, which is incorporated herein byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The following discussion generally relates to the processing of closedcaptioning or other timed text information associated with televisionbroadcasts, media streams and/or other media programming.

BACKGROUND

Viewers now watch television content received from many differentsources. In addition to conventional direct broadcast satellite (DBS),cable or terrestrial television broadcasts, content is now availablefrom any number of streaming services (e.g., video on demand (VOD)services) and the like. Moreover, many viewers now make use of timeshifting devices (e.g., local storage or remote storage digital videorecorders (DVRs)) and/or placeshifting devices. In a typicalplaceshifting setting, a placeshifting device encodes a live mediastream for real-time (or even faster than real-time) delivery to aviewer. The live stream may encode a previously-stored program, a livebroadcast, and/or any other content as desired. With the advent of thesenew technologies, media content is now viewable not only on televisions,but also on mobile phones, tablets, computer systems, video gameplayers, media players and any number of other devices.

With the emergence of new media player types and capabilities, it is nowpossible to provide additional services and/or to enhance the viewer'smedia experience. Further, modern “smart” televisions are capable ofproviding more advanced features beyond mere playback of receivedbroadcasts. It is therefore desirable to provide systems, devices and/orprocesses that improve the experience of viewing media content on atelevision or other device. These and other desirable features andcharacteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detaileddescription and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings and this background section.

BRIEF SUMMARY

According to various exemplary embodiments, systems, devices and methodsare described to process timed text that is associated with television,media stream and/or other video programming.

Various embodiments provide a process executable by a media playerdevice having a processor, memory and an interface to a network toprocess timed text that is associated with television programming. Theprocess suitably comprises: receiving, at the media player, a programstream that comprises video content associated with a particular programand a timed text stream that comprises textual data associated with theparticular program; providing the video content associated with theparticular program in a first window to a display for presentation tothe viewer; and simultaneously providing the timed text stream in asecond window different from the first window for presentation to theviewer, wherein the timed text stream is presented in the second windowto be scrollable such that the viewer is able to scroll back to viewdialog occurring prior to a current scene of the particular program.

Other embodiments relate to processes to automatically replace certainwords (e.g., slang) within the timed text stream, or to enhance thetimed text stream with links or other additional information from a website or other source. Still other embodiments relate to processes bywhich the media player, television receiver or another computing deviceis able to automatically construct a summary of a program from the timedtext data of the program. The automatically-generated summary may bepresented to the viewer as the program is in progress so that the vieweris quickly brought current as to earlier developments in the program,for example.

Still other embodiments relate to media player applications and devicesthat implement the various processes described herein, or to othercomputing systems and devices that implement the various automatedprocesses set forth herein.

Additional embodiments, aspects and other features are described in moredetail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Example embodiments will hereinafter be described in conjunction withthe following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote likeelements, and

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example system for providing enhanced closedcaption features in a placeshifting or other streaming mediaenvironment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example interface that is viewable on a mediaplayer to incorporate scrollable timed text content;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example process for processing enhancedtimed text; and

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example process for generating a summaryof a media program using timed text content.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description of the invention is merely exemplaryin nature and is not intended to limit the invention or the applicationand uses of the invention. Furthermore, there is no intention to bebound by any theory presented in the preceding background or thefollowing detailed description.

Timed text that is provided in a television broadcast or media streamcan be used to provide an improved user experience. A scrollable textwindow that presents the timed text can be provided, for example, thatcan allow the user to quickly “catchup” from a missed moment or to see aword or phrase that might have been difficult to understand. In someembodiments, timed text may be enhanced to allow URLs or other links todictionaries, Wikipedia, online sources, thesauruses, translatingservices, and/or the like. Further embodiments could use automated toolsto automatically generate program summaries for watched content. Variousfeatures may be particularly useful in a placeshifting setting whereinmedia streams are encoded and transmitted across a network for remoteviewing; other embodiments may be used in set top boxes, televisionreceivers, media players and/or other devices and systems as desired.

According to various examples, processes for presenting one or morerunning streams of closed captioning (CC) or other timed text (TT) datain vertical or other windows are described. These windows may appearsimilar to an instant message chat window, in some embodiments, and maybe shown along with the running video on a media player client (e.g. amobile phone, tablet or other device) or other display as desired. Thetimed text window may be activated or deactivated by the user, asdesired.

The caption transcript can be used by the user to quickly get a grasp ofany missed conversation, dialog or other events in the video without theneed to seek backward to the missed location in the video (which can bedisruptive to other viewers). This may be particularly useful forviewers who are not fluent in the language of the program, since maysuch viewers may be able to read certain languages at a faster rateand/or a more fluent level than they can listen and understand spokenlanguage. The caption transcript may also be helpful in recognizing orcomprehending slang terms that even a more fluent speaker may notunderstand.

In further embodiments, the transcript can be post-processed so thatinteresting keywords are detected and highlighted as smart tags thatprovide a quick info/link/glossary for the word. That is, the viewer maybe able to obtain more information about a word or phrase that ispresented in the TT content. The word may be a player name in a sportingevent, for example, which could link to sports statistics or otherinformation about that player. Other embodiments could simply link tothesaurus or dictionary entries for certain words, or to synonyms forcertain words or phrases to improve reader/viewer comprehension. To thatend, some embodiments could connect a keyword in the caption text to anHTML, XML and/or other link that is clickable by the user to open a websearch, dictionary entry, Wikipedia or other informational webpage,and/or other information about the linked word.

The thesaurus function could be further automated, as desired. In someembodiments, certain words (e.g., slang) may be replaced entirely withwords that have clearer meanings. If a movie or TV program uses Americanslang, for example, certain words may be ambiguous or unclear when theprogram is broadcast or streamed in other countries. Even fluent Englishspeakers may not be used to current slang from other geographiclocations, so certain words that would be unfamiliar or otherwisedifficult to understand in the local region could be automaticallyreplaced in the caption window with words that are more common or thatare more likely to be understood. Difficult words can therefore bereplaced with other words in the same or a different language to makethe meaning clearer.

Various embodiments alternately or additionally provide an automatictranscript feature that is prepared from the caption text. Thistranscript can be further processed using automated tools to generate asummary description of the watched content. Such summaries may beespecially useful for sports programs, although automatic summariescould be equivalently created for other programs as well.

To that end, a typical television viewer often subscribes to multiplechannels each having different types of programs (sports, movies, games,comedies etc.). If a user is interested to know about a particularprogram, the electronic program guide (EPG) typically provides only avague description about the program in just a few lines of text that maybe inadequate to satisfy the viewer's desire for information about theprogram. Moreover, if a user joins a particular program that is alreadyin progress, he or she has no idea of the sequence of events that mayhave occurred during the earlier programming. By generating a summary(e.g., a précis) that is extracted from the close captioning or thesubtitles associated with the program, a more detailed description ofthe part of the program that the user has missed can be provided. Thissummary can be generated by the television receiver or media client, ifdesired, and presented to potential viewers before or during a broadcastto give a more accurate description of the content. Other embodimentscould generate automatic summaries at a separate server (e.g., a networkserver) that distributes summaries as desired. Each of these differentembodiments is described more fully below.

Turning now to the drawing figures and with initial reference to FIG. 1,an example system 100 to deliver media content with enhanced timed textfeatures is shown. Although FIG. 1 relates primarily to a placeshiftingscenario for ease of illustration, equivalent embodiments could applythe concepts herein to any conventional media viewing environment, suchas broadcast (including cable or DBS broadcast) television, storedmedia, video on demand, and/or the like.

The example system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 suitably includes a mediaplayer 120 that executes a media application 126 for processing videoand/or text streams received from any appropriate sources. Such sourcescould include, without limitation, any sort of broadcast, stored mediaand/or streaming sources, such as the placeshifting device no shown inFIG. 1. Media player 120 typically includes a conventional processor121, memory 122 and input/output interfaces 123 that are commonlyassociated with a mobile phone, media player device, tablet computer,personal computer, video game player, television receiver, televisionand/or other device 120 as desired.

Placeshifting device 110 is similarly implemented using conventionalhardware, such as a processor 111, memory 112 and input/outputinterfaces 113 as desired to implement the various functions describedherein. Typically, placeshifting device 110 executes a placeshiftingserver application 116 that controls the encoding of video and thedelivery of encoded video to the remote player device 110. In variousembodiments, placeshifting device no is a standalone device such as anyof the various SLINGBOX devices available from Sling Media Inc. ofFoster City, Calif., although any number of other devices could beequivalently used. Other placeshifting devices no are integrated withinset top boxes (STBs), television receivers, media players and/or otherconsumer-type hardware components that are available from any number ofdifferent sources.

Generally speaking, the placeshifting device 120 receives one or moremedia streams from a content source (e.g., a DVR, television receiver,stored media player, VOD source, and/or the like). Device 120 suitablyconverts the received stream(s) into a format that can be routed overnetwork 125 to media player application 126 executing on media playerdevice 120.

In the example of FIG. 1, placeshifting device 110 obtains and encodes aprimary media stream 130 that is delivered to the media player 120. Thisstream 130 represents the then-current program that is being presentedon the media player 120. In various embodiments, timed text may alreadybe encoded into the primary stream 130, so no additional efforts arerequired by the placeshifting device 110. In other embodiments, adistinct timed text stream 131 may be separately encoded and transmittedto the media player 120, as desired. Timed text stream 131 may encodethe timed text stream associated with the primary program (i.e., thesame program delivered in stream 130), or with a different program, asdescribed more fully below. Any number of additional streams 131, 132may be provided to allow the viewer to monitor any number of additionalprograms in addition to the primary program stream.

The media player application 126 suitably receives the streams 130-132,decodes the content, and presents the content as appropriate. In variousembodiments, timed text streams are presented in separate windows fromthe video content; these separate windows may be activated ordeactivated by the viewer as desired. In various embodiments, each ofthe timed text windows suitably includes a scroll feature that allowsthe viewer to scroll back and view dialog or other events that havealready occurred. Various embodiments could present multiple captionwindows so that multiple programs can be monitored on the same display.Still other embodiments may use the secondary text streams to generatesummaries of programs that may be viewed in the future, or for otherpurposes as desired.

Caption data may be processed using any format. All broadcast televisionprogramming in the United States and many other nations must now includeclosed caption information. For conventional digital (e.g., ATSC)television broadcasts, caption streams are typically encoded in awell-known format such as EIA-608 format, EIA-708 format, and/or thelike. Other closed captioning formats or standards may be implemented inthe United States or elsewhere.

Closed captioning typically refers to text delivered in conjunction witha television program or other programming content that allows viewers toaccess additional or interpretive information about programming content.Closed captions often provide textual transcriptions of the audioportions of programs as the programs progress, thereby allowing thehearing impaired and others to follow the program content withoutlistening to the audio track typically associated with the programming.Motion pictures, video disk (e.g., DVD, Blu-ray) content, streamedaudio/video, video games and the like may similarly incorporate closedcaptions using any number of standard or non-standard techniques. Closedcaption/timed text often uses the presentation time stamps (PTSs) ofconventional MPEG bundles to synchronize the text to the rest of themedia program, although other standards may use other synchronizationfeatures, as desired.

As more and more consumers receive their television programming frombroadband sources, the Society of Motion Picture and TelevisionEngineers (SMPTE) and others have recommended a transition from theolder standards (e.g., EIA 608/708) to more advanced “timed text”formats such as SMPTE-TT. This newer timed text format incorporatessyntax, structures and tags similar to the extensible markup language(XML) to provide more advanced features and to improve flexibility incomparison to the more traditional legacy formats. The SMPTE-TT formatis described in SMPTE Standard ST 2052-1-2010, which was approved onDec. 3, 2010. The concepts set forth herein may be applied using anytype of timed text/closed caption formatting, as appropriate.

FIG. 2 shows an example display in which a text stream (e.g., stream131) is presented in a window 205 along with a window 202 showing avideo stream (e.g., stream 130). In this example, the user may be ableto manipulate a scroll bar, arrows or other interface feature(s) toscroll back and read timed text that occurred in the past. The amount oftimed text that is buffered or stored for scrolling may vary fromembodiment to embodiment, but ideally the window would allow scrollingback as far as the viewer is likely to be interested, such as to thebeginning of the program, or at least as far as possible, given anystorage or other constraints. Other embodiments may discard the timedtext content after an appropriate period of time has elapsed or after anappropriate amount of storage space has been consumed, as desired.

The example 200 of FIG. 2 also shows windows 206 and 210 for viewingadditional text streams and/or summaries of program content,respectively. Windows 206 and 210 are optional, and may not be presentin all embodiments; other features of FIG. 2 may be supplemented,modified and/or omitted in other embodiments as desired. Conversely,additional windows similar to window 206 or 210 could be provided toallow simultaneous monitoring of additional text streams and/orsummaries for other programs, as desired. In the illustrated example,window 206 presents timed text for a different program other than theprogram presented in windows 202 and 205. This allows the viewer tomonitor a second program while watching a first program; this may behelpful, for example, during sports programming where a user may want towatch one game while closely monitoring the progress of a second gamethat is broadcast at the same time.

The summary window 210 presents summary data that may be automaticallygenerated at media player 120 and/or provided from any other source. Anexample process to create a summary is presented below with respect toFIG. 4

FIG. 2 illustrates one interface in which the timed text for a programis presented in a window 205 that is physically distinct from the videoimage window 202 to prevent obscuring the action and to allowindependent interaction with the text apart from the video. In contrastto conventional closed caption receivers that present closed captions asoverlays on top of the video programming, text can simply be added to ascrolling window in a manner similar to an instant message window. Thatis, additional dialog or other timed text entries can be added to thelist in window 205 at the appropriate time (as indicated by presentationtime stamp (PTS) and/or other time indices) rather than simply beingpresented for a limited period of time as an overlay on top of videowindow 202, as in conventional closed caption viewing. That is, newer TTdata can be added to the bottom of a scrollable window or the likerather than overwriting prior data. This provides a substantial benefitto the user because it avoids obscuring the video and it allows the textto be used even after the scene in which the text was displayed is over.This may also allow viewers who are more proficient with writtenlanguage than spoken language to more closely and accurately followalong with the program, since they can now scroll back and read thetimed text at their own pace.

FIG. 3 shows an example process 300 to deliver and enhance timed textwithin the placeshifting setting. With reference now to FIG. 3, anexample process to placeshift timed text suitably includes the useroperating media player application 126 at media player 120 to select adesired program for placeshifted viewing (function 301). The mediaplayer application 126 provides a description of the selected program tothe placeshifting device no which obtains the requested programming froma DVR, television tuner or other available content source (function302). The placeshifting device encodes the video as appropriate(function 304) for transmittal on network 125. The encoded video content305 (corresponding to stream 130 in FIG. 1) is transmitted acrossnetwork 125 to media player application 126 for decoding andpresentation to the viewer.

Timed text is transmitted to the media player 120 in any manner. In theexample of FIG. 3, timed text is separately encoded (function 306) byplaceshifting device no and delivered 307 as a separate stream. Otherembodiments will include the timed text with the primary video stream,e.g., as an MPEG multiplex or the like, rather than providing separatestreams 305 and 307, so that the media player is able to extract thetimed text from the primary stream.

The media player application 126 decodes the received content andformats an appropriate display (function 308). In various embodiments,the timed text is presented in a separate scrollable window 205 that isadjacent to the video display window 202, as described above. Othertimed text windows 206, summary windows 210 and/or other information maybe additionally provided.

In various embodiments, at least some of the words or phrases in thetimed text window 205 may be marked with an HTML link or otherwisehighlighted to indicate that additional information is available. Insuch implementations, the media player 120 typically contacts anexternal web service 140 for additional information or processing. TheHTML link may reference a uniform resource locator (URL) on the Internetor another network, for example, that provides additional informationabout the word, phrase, or other item identified by the text. Anathlete's name, for example, could be hot linked to a web page providingstatistics or other information about that athlete. Actor/actress names,director names, or other persons could be similarly tagged to provideready access to additional information. Other items could be linked toan encyclopedia page or other reference source for more informationabout the item, or words could be hot linked to a dictionary orthesaurus service (e.g., web service 140) that provides additionalinformation about the linked words. Content could be selected forhighlights or links in any manner; in various embodiments, an electronicprogram guide (EPG) or the like provides a table of keywords to behighlighted, along with URLs or other addresses to be referenced whenthe highlighted keyword is activated by the viewer.

In some implementations, the media player 120 simply contacts theexternal web service (function 310) as desired to resolve URL links orto obtain requested data. Web service 140 processes the request(function 312) and returns the requested data as appropriate (function314). A dictionary or thesaurus service 140, for example, could receivea web query 310 that identified a particular word or phrase, andresponse 314 could include additional information about that particularword or phrase. The media player 120 would format the receivedinformation as appropriate for presentation to the viewer.

Other services 140 could provide translation or word replacementservices, as appropriate. As noted above, some viewers may not befamiliar with dialects, slang or other words of a particular language.This can be particularly true when a program is shown in a country otherthan where it was created. Text relating to slang terms (e.g., “totescray”, “amazeballs”) from one country or region, for example, could beautomatically replaced with more readily understood terms (e.g.,“totally crazy”, “amazing”) for viewers in other regions. This wouldallow the viewer to readily ascertain the meaning from the timed texteven though the original audio still contains the more obscure term.Replacement terms may be automatically supplied to media player 120 inresponse to media player application 126 noticing certain terms in thetimed text. In some embodiments, media player application 126 couldtag/highlight terms that do not appear in a dictionary of conventionalwords so that additional information 314 is obtained when the userclicks on a highlighted term. Other embodiments could implement theautomatic word replacement feature within application 126 (e.g., bysupplying a table of words and suitable replacements to application126). Word replacement in this manner could also be useful for removingor softening harsh language, words or phrases that are offensive, orother words or phrases in the timed text that are undesirable for anyreason.

The decode video and text data is presented to the viewer in any manner(function 316). In various embodiments, an interface such as that shownin FIG. 2 is provided to the display so that text data is presentedsimultaneously with the video imagery, but in a non-obtrusive mannerthat allows for scrolling back to prior scenes without rewinding thevideo presentation.

A program summary may also be automatically created, as desired(function 318). The summary may be created by the receiver or mediaplayer as the program is received by simply aggregating text entriesthat are of particular relevance. Alternately, summaries may begenerated by the placeshifter, by broadcast or distribution services, orby any other service that is remotely accessible to the media player orother viewing device.

FIG. 4 shows a process 400 that could be executed by media player 110,placeshifting device 120 and/or by another data processing system toautomatically generate a program summary from timed text. In variousembodiments, process 400 is executed by media player application 126 onmedia player device 120.

Typically, various types of programs (e.g., American football game,European football game, cricket match, soap opera, adventure show, newsbroadcast, etc.) can be associated with a set of key words or eventsthat may occur during the course of the program and that would berelevant to include in a program summary. A sporting match, for example,might summarize scoring events, near scoring events, penalties,turnovers or other events of significance. These events could beassociated with trigger words that are likely to occur within the timedtext. Trigger words for American football, for example, could include“touchdown”, “fumble”, “turnover”, “third” or “fourth down”,“interception” and/or the like. Finding trigger words in the timed text,then, can lead to updates of a program summary.

In the example of FIG. 4, the automatic summary generator (e.g., mediaplayer application 126) receives a database of key words or events forthe program being summarized (function 402). The key words/events may betied to the particular type of program, as desired.

As the program text is received, an extractor module receives the timedtext (function 404) and monitors the text for an occurrence of the keywords/events identified in the database (function 406). In variousembodiments, the summary event may be triggered using any sort ofartificial intelligence that considers multiple timed text entries(e.g., corresponding to commentator dialog, or the like).

If a match is found in the timed text (function 408), then summary textmay be extracted and/or generic text associated with the identifiedevent may be added (function 412). The generic text may be a simpledescription of the event (e.g., “touchdown scored by TeamA”), which maybe provided along with the time the event occurred in some embodiments.

Automatic summary generation may continue as desired (function 410). Invarious embodiments, summaries may be automatically generated even forprograms that are not viewed. If a viewer comes to a program already inprogress, for example, an automatic text summary can allow the viewer tocatch up very quickly. Alternatively, text summaries can be used forprograms that the viewer does not want to watch, but does want to knowthe sequence of events occurring (e.g., sporting games, etc.).

To generate a précis/summary, at least two software modules could becreated: a closed captioning (CC)/subtitles extractor and a summarygenerator. The extractor module would go through the video and parse outthe CC/subtitle data, in the case of a live channel this will happen onthe fly. The summary generator module will then go through the extractedtext and create a summary using the key text, key text can be foundbased on the usage of the text or by referring to key moments from Videoand audio data. Whenever the viewer requests program info, the detailedsummary can be provided so the user knows exactly what events that haveoccurred. This can be further improved to provide user morecomprehensive summary of a TV show when a user starts watching a programmid-season.

Placeshifting of text streams may therefore be used to supplement orenhance the media viewing experience. Since only the timed text needs tobe transported to the remote viewer, the amount of bandwidth consumed issubstantially less than would be consumed for placeshifted video. Evenif video content is not provided with the stream, the media player (oranother source) can process the text to provide any number of usefulfeatures for the viewer.

The various embodiments described herein may be independentlyimplemented and/or interchangeable mixed and matched with each other inany manner. Scrolling timed text windows could be augmented with wordreplacement features, for example, as well as automated summarygeneration capabilities. Conversely, automated summaries and/or wordreplacement or highlighting may be implemented even when separate timedtext windows or other displays are not available.

The general concepts set forth herein may be equivalently applied in anynumber of different embodiments. Displaying of scrollable timed text,automatic word substitution and/or automatic summary features are notlimited to placeshifting applications, but may be used in any televisionor other media viewing environment. The various interfaces and otherfeatures described herein are not limited to placeshifting and mediastreaming applications, but may be used in conventional televisionviewing or media watching, as desired. Other applications, modificationsand enhancements may be considered in any number of other equivalentembodiments.

The term “exemplary” is used herein to represent one example, instanceor illustration that may have any number of alternates. Anyimplementation described herein as “exemplary” should not necessarily beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. Whileseveral exemplary embodiments have been presented in the foregoingdetailed description, it should be appreciated that a vast number ofalternate but equivalent variations exist, and the examples presentedherein are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, orconfiguration of the invention in any way. To the contrary, variouschanges may be made in the function and arrangement of the variousfeatures described herein without departing from the scope of the claimsand their legal equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A process executable by a media player device toautomatically process timed text received with broadcast televisionprogramming, the process comprising: receiving, at the media playerdevice, a television broadcast that comprises video content associatedwith a particular television program and a timed text stream thatcomprises textual data associated with the particular televisionprogram; receiving a list of words, wherein the list of words compriseswords in the textual data to be replaced and, for each of the words inthe textual data to be replaced, an associated replacement word to beinserted in place of the word to be replaced; processing the receivedtelevision broadcast by the media player device to thereby extract thevideo content and the textual data of the timed text stream from thetelevision broadcast; providing the video content associated with theparticular television program in a first window to a display forpresentation to the viewer; and while providing the video content in thefirst window, the media player device simultaneously providing the timedtext stream in a second window different from the first window forpresentation to the viewer, wherein the timed text stream is presentedby the media player device in the second window to be scrollable suchthat the viewer is able to scroll back to view dialog occurring prior toa current scene of the particular television program, and wherein themedia player device automatically scans the timed text stream toidentify occurrences of the words in the list and, upon identifying aword to be replaced, automatically replaces the word to be replaced inthe timed text stream with its associated replacement word.
 2. Theprocess of claim 1 wherein the words in the textual data to be replacedcomprise slang words that are unique to a different geographic region.3. The process of claim 2 wherein the list of words to be replacedcomprises words from a geographical region that are different from wordsused in a geographic region associated with the viewer.
 4. The processof claim 3 wherein the media player device replaces the words in thetimed text with different words that are more familiar in the geographicregion of the viewer.
 5. The process of claim 1 further comprising themedia player enhancing certain words of the timed text stream with linksto additional information.
 6. The process of claim 5 wherein the linksare uniform resource locators to web sites presenting additionalinformation about the certain words of the timed text stream.
 7. Theprocess of claim 6 further comprising the media player device receivinga list of the certain words to be detected and highlighted, and whereinthe certain words of the timed text stream are detected and highlightedby the media player.
 8. The process of claim 1 further comprising themedia player device automatically creating a summary of the particulartelevision program from the timed text stream that is associated withthe television program.
 9. The process of claim 8 wherein theautomatically creating comprises the media player device scanning thetimed text stream for keywords, and, in response to locating one of thekeywords, the media player device triggering an entry for theautomatically-created summary of the television program.
 10. A mediaplayer device having a processor, a memory and an interface to a digitalnetwork, wherein the memory stores a computer-executable program that,when executed by the processor, automatically process timed text that isassociated with television programming using an automated process thatcomprises: receiving, at the media player device, a television broadcastthat comprises video content associated with a particular televisionprogram and a timed text stream that comprises textual data associatedwith the particular television program; separately receiving a list ofwords, wherein the list of words comprises words in the textual data tobe replaced and, for each of the words to be replaced, an associatedreplacement word to be inserted in place of the word to be replaced;processing the received television broadcast by the media player deviceto thereby extract the video content and the textual data frem of thetimed text stream from the television broadcast; providing the videocontent associated with the particular television program in a firstwindow to a display for presentation to the viewer; and while providingthe video content in the first window, simultaneously providing thetimed text stream in a second window different from the first window forpresentation to the viewer, wherein the timed text stream is presentedby the media player device in the second window to be scrollable suchthat the viewer is able to scroll back to view dialog occurring prior toa current scene of the particular television program, and wherein themedia player device automatically scans the timed text stream toidentify occurrences of the words in the list and, upon identifying aword to be replaced, automatically replaces the word in the timed textstream with its associated replacement word.
 11. The media player deviceof claim 10 wherein the words in the textual data to be replacedcomprise slang words that are associated with a different geographicregion.
 12. The media player device of claim 11 wherein the list ofwords to be replaced comprises words from an other geographical regionthat are different from words associated with a geographic regionfavored by the viewer.
 13. The media player device of claim 12 whereinthe media player device replaces the words from the other geographicalregion with different replacement words that are more familiar to theviewer than the words to be replaced.
 14. The media player device ofclaim 10 further comprising the media player enhancing certain words ofthe timed text stream with links to additional information.
 15. Themedia player device of claim 14 wherein the links are uniform resourcelocators to web sites presenting additional information about thecertain words of the timed text stream.
 16. The media player device ofclaim 15 further comprising the media player device receiving a list ofthe certain words to be detected and highlighted, and wherein thecertain words of the timed text stream are detected and highlighted bythe media player.
 17. The media player device of claim 10 furthercomprising the media player device automatically creating a summary of atelevision program from the timed text stream that is associated withthe television program.
 18. The media player device of claim 17 whereinthe automatically creating comprises the media player device scanningthe timed text stream for keywords, and, in response to locating one ofthe keywords, the media player device triggering an entry for theautomatically-created summary of the television program.
 19. A processexecutable by a viewer-operated media player device to present broadcasttelevision programming to a viewer, the process comprising: receiving,at the media player device, a television broadcast that comprises videocontent associated with a particular television program and a timed textstream that comprises textual data associated with the particulartelevision program, wherein the particular television program originatedat an other geographical area that is different from a geographical areain which the particular program is broadcast; receiving a list of wordsby the viewer-operated media player device, wherein the list of wordscomprises words in the textual data to be replaced and replacement wordsto be inserted in place of the words to be replaced, wherein the wordsto be replaced are associated with the other geographical area, andwherein each of the words to be replaced is associated with areplacement word that is associated with the geographical area in whichthe particular program is broadcast; processing the received televisionbroadcast by the viewer-operated media player device to thereby extractthe video content and the textual data of the timed text stream from thetelevision broadcast; providing the video content associated with theparticular television program in a first window to a display forpresentation to the viewer; and while providing the video content in thefirst window, the media player device simultaneously providing theextracted timed text stream in a second window different from the firstwindow for presentation to the viewer, wherein the timed text stream ispresented by the media player device in the second window to bescrollable such that the viewer is able to scroll back to view dialogoccurring prior to a current scene of the particular television program,and wherein the viewer-operated media player device automatically scansthe timed text stream to identify occurrences of the words in the listand, upon identifying a word in the timed text stream to be replaced,automatically replaces the words of the other geographical region in thetimed text stream with the associated replacement words that areassociated with the geographical area in which the particular program isbroadcast.
 20. The process of claim 19 wherein the words to be replacedare slang words associated with the other geographical area.